WASHINGTON   –  U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) today said a rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency to require U.S. businesses to report emissions of carbon dioxide is a dangerous first step in an effort to tax greenhouse gases.

“This rule would cost U.S. businesses $160 million in the first year alone to measure their emissions of greenhouse gases, and that’s before we start taxing them.  Once a tax is added to the program, the actual costs to American businesses, workers and consumers will total in the hundreds of billions of dollars and eliminate American jobs,” Emerson said.  “The competitiveness of the American economy is at stake.”

The EPA reporting requirements include carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas, as well as methane and other gases.  The rule aims to cover 85 to 90 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

“The rule touches every community in the nation, and it will introduce EPA requirements on businesses from small bakeries to power plants.  Every good and service we consume will start to reflect these costs, which will hit American families at a particularly difficult time for our economy.  Once we start down this path, we are adding a severe amount of strain to the U.S. economy – especially in rural areas like Southern Missouri.  Furthermore, these are regressive taxes that end up hitting the middle class and poor Americans hardest,” Emerson said.  “EPA is laying the groundwork for those taxes and limitations with this rule, and they will result in U.S. job losses and extreme hardship for families on a budget.”

Last week, Emerson criticized a $646 billion proposed tax increase on carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions in the president’s FY 2010 budget, saying it amounts to a tax, “every time an American flips on a light switch.”  She also disagreed with claims that higher energy costs passed on to American families would be offset by new tax credits for some.  “I find a serious flaw in the reasoning that gives a tax credit to hardworking families with one hand and takes it away with the other,” she said.

The National Association of Manufacturers estimates that the cap-and-trade system will result in the loss of 3 to 4 million American jobs, imposing an annual financial cost on U.S. households of between $739 to $2,927 by the year 2020.

“Even the EPA has admitted this tax scheme will raise electricity costs between 44 and 79 percent, in addition to raising gas prices between 61 cents to $1.60 per gallon,” Emerson noted.  “It’s absolutely wrong to put this severe pressure on American families anytime, but when we have record unemployment it’s downright unconscionable.”